


crossroads

by kalyri



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017), The Worst Witch - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Gen, Parent Trap AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-06-30 22:03:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15760593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalyri/pseuds/kalyri
Summary: A lot can happen after an abandoned school broomstick display--reconciliation, friendship, dating, marriage, children... or rather child.  Circe Pentangle is the newest addition to the Cackle's student body, daughter of Pippa Pentangle and Hecate Hardbroom.  She's sure to cause a few problems for her more reserved mother when she joins the school for Mildred, Maud, and Enid's third year.  Can the creative minds of four young witches bring back the greatest love story of the older witching generation?  Let's hope so.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Characters and affiliated locations and terminology of The Worst Witch do not belong to me. I'm simply taking them on a joyride.
> 
>  
> 
> So! Got the idea from a prompt-ish [post](http://x-myheart.tumblr.com/post/177126910494/is-there-a-hicsqueak-divorced-lesbian-mums-au-fic) that kept popping up on my dashboard on Tumblr, so it literally kept slapping me in the face until Circe Pentangle came into existence in all of her lovable glory. Title is a work in progress, not sure if it's going to stay what it is. Either way: I hope you enjoy!

In all honesty, she should be excited; it’s her third year at Cackle’s Academy, she’s found out she was from a witching family—heck, she’d even studied over the break on top of the project she’d worked hard on this time around.  Last year was getting her tortoise to talk—this year?  The study of using easy to find herbs to replace those lost to extinction in the past few hundred years and why it’s not necessarily a bad thing, by Mildred Hubble. Granted, the title wasn’t actually that long, but she so hoped Miss Hardbroom wouldn’t explode while she presented her research to the class on their first potions class back.  Mildred should be excited.

 

But as usual, _should_ and _are_ seem to be the furthest from each other.  She didn’t lose her project, no that was just splattered with grass stains and mud from what had caused the entirety of her mood.  Mildred had managed to land nearly perfectly on the front lawn of the school; she wobbled a bit, but she’d been practicing!  It was definitely an improvement from the last few years at Cackle’s.  She’d landed and caught sight of Enid and Maud and raced to meet them, so happy to see them after the month or so away; only to have something tug on the scarf around her throat, the very same scarf her mother had made for her before her first term at Cackle’s two years ago, closing off the good cheer she’d had.  And she’d found herself tumbling head over feet into the grass.

 

The burst of laughter let her know exactly who had caused such a fall and she lifted herself onto her hands and knees and glared at Ethel’s haughty expression over her left shoulder as the callous girl and her entourage, which seemed to have gained a few girls since the year before, strutted away from Mildred still laughing.  Mildred had huffed and gotten back to her feet, only to have her bag empty onto the ground, and Tabby decided then was a great time to walk over and sit on her report, wiggling down until he was comfortably laying on the parchment paper.  Mildred, desperate to get to her friends and on with the beginning of term, shooed her familiar from his perch and picked up her report to see the smears of grass stains.  She merely groaned at her luck and continued on her way to Maud and Enid, who had been running towards her when they’d seen Ethel walk off.  “Are you all right, Mildred?” Maud asked with the desperation Mildred felt.

 

“You’d think after last year Ethel would have gotten that frog out of her skirt, but—”

 

“It’s fine,” Mildred said with a smile, barely reaching her cheeks let alone her eyes.  “I’m so happy to see you!”  She moved forward to hug her friends, nearly having one arm around each of the girls when someone tripped into her back as they were rushing past, and Mildred found herself and her friends in the mud she’d missed with her first fall.  The girl who’d tripped and fallen on them managed to shove a pointed elbow into the middle of Mildred’s back in her attempts to right herself, causing Mildred to cry out in pain.

 

“Oh!  I’m so sorry!” the girl said, her voice tinged with the apology as she managed to get off the pile of three girls and stand on her own two feet.  “Oh dear, I’ve managed to get you three all muddy,” she groaned as she offered a hand first to Mildred, who took it and jerkily returned to her feet.  “I’m afraid I’m just not used to these clunky shoes and this soft ground… the uniform wasn’t this disagreeable with me at Pentangle’s…” she said as she helped Enid to her feet while Mildred helped Maud.

 

“Pentangle’s?” Enid asked when she’d freed herself of the grass, taking a look at the cheery girl who stood there as she spoke.  “What are you doing at Cackle’s if you were attending Pentangle’s?  Were you expelled like me?”

 

“Oh no, of course not, Pop would not have allowed that,” the girl said, brushing at the blonde hair that had fallen loose in their tumble to the ground.  “No, Mum said I needed to see more than her school if I wanted to run Pentangle’s one day, and to maybe help Joy out, so she—”

 

“Your mum is Miss Pentangle?” Maud asked suddenly, having cleaned the mud from her glasses with a swipe across the spectacles with a clean part of her skirt.

 

“Yeah,” the girl said with a smile.  “I’m Circe by the way!  Circe Constance Pentangle… er no… this part is always confusing…” Circe seemed to look a bit flustered at the introduction of her name—none of the girls understood too much.  The girl looked like a nearly identical, albeit younger, version of Miss Pippa Pentangle, aside from expressive dark eyes and smile—no doubt inherited from her other parent.

 

“Mildred Hubble…” a disembodied voice growled into the air just before their form mistress appeared just behind the girl they were talking to.  “I do not care how it happened, but you three will be clean by the time dinner is served…”  She said with a grimace as she took in the three witches, her peripherals catching on the head and then face of the girl as Circe looked up at the woman who’d transferred just behind her.  “And Miss Pentangle?” the older woman said as she moved her eyes to look down at the girl.  “It is good to see you,” she said with a small smile before she leaned down and laid a kiss on Circe’s forehead in a manner that was exceeding strange for Mildred, Maud, and Enid to see.  The three all turned to look at each other with confused expressions before they turned back to face the two.  “Carry on,” she said before she turned away from the group of girls and disappeared.

 

“So… any of you got the green sash and whatnot?” Circe asked as she looked at the three of them.  “Aw damn—”

 

“Language, Miss Pentangle!” the disembodied voice of Miss Hardbroom hissed, causing the four of them to jump.

 

“Sorry, Pop,” Circe said with an embarrassed frown. 

 

“Wait… Miss Hardbroom is..?” Mildred asked, leaving it open ended.  Did the potions mistress qualify as a father… or do witches just have two mothers when the other parent was a woman… did it really matter?

 

“My other mum, yeah,” Circe answered with a proud smile.  “First time I’ll have been here during term, so it ought to be fun.”  She hoisted her bag a bit higher on her shoulder and held her hand out for her broom, which was on the ground still where she’d dropped it just before the group had fallen, and smiling when it moved into her grip.  “Let’s get the three of you nice and shiny for dinner, yeah?”  The three of them all nodded with slightly gaping mouths as Circe moved passed them towards the entrance to the castle.  They lagged a bit, all turning to face one another with the disbelief still clear on their faces.  Circe only noticed they weren’t following her when she stopped and looked over her shoulder to see the three of them still speechless where they stood, looking at each other hoping someone would say something.  “Come on you lot!” she called from a few meters away.  “Don’t want Miss Hardbroom to give you detention for a bit of dirt, do ya?”

 

This seemed to kick the three of them into action, and Circe laughed as they raced towards her and then walked with her into school. 

 

-~-

 

“Wait so if your mums are Miss Pentangle and Miss Hardbroom…” Mildred said as she walked back into her room dressed in a new uniform and drying her hair with a towel, not surprised to see Enid and Maud already sitting on her bed with Tabby asleep on her pillow.  “I mean… are you adopted or…”

 

“What do you mean am I adopted?” Circe asked with a bit of confusion.  “Mum was the one who had me, and Pop was the other um… donor, I guess is a good word for it.” 

 

“But how does that work?” Mildred asked, still confused.  She’d had The Talk with her mum awhile ago about how babies were made.  And it was strictly sperm and egg.  You needed the sexual organs to make the sperm—or as her mother had explained when a pair of men and their daughter had moved in across the hall from their flat, the sperm could be donated from another individual and used via “turkey baster”.  Her mother had laughed when Mildred never looked at a baster the same way again.  Although it was an awkward conversation for the both of them, Mildred had understood it for the most part. 

 

“Magic, Millie,” Maud answered.  “You’ll have to excuse Mildred sometimes… she didn’t grow up with magic like we did, this isn’t common knowledge for her.” 

 

“Magic?  Really?” Mildred asked with a sort of excitement.  “Wow… magic really is more amazing than I thought…” she said as she stared up at the ceiling, her eyes glazed in wonder at the realization as she fumbled through drying her hair.

 

“Millie come here, you really are a mess sometimes…” Maud huffed as Enid snickered to her right.  Mildred smiled and sat down on the floor, leaning back against Maud’s legs, as her best friend combed and then plaited her hair.  When the four of them were set, the sound of a dinner gong rang through the castle and the four of them raced out of the room and down towards the dining hall.

 

They filed in with the rest of the girls in the school and the four of them set up at a table which happened to have Ethel, Felicity and a few more third years towards the other end.  “Would you look at that?  Mildred seems to have dragged yet another to her life of inadequacy… I do hope you’ll see the error of her ways,” Ethel snarked with a round of laughter from the other girls—the shaky laughter of Felicity as she peered down the table at Mildred.  She didn’t always agree with Ethel, and this was one of those disagreeable moments as smiled apologetically at Mildred from where she sat.  Ethel caught sight of it and stepped on the girl’s foot under the table causing Felicity to straighten up where she sat and turn back to her “friends”.

 

“Wow, she’s a bitch,” Circe said quickly and under her breath, barely loud enough for the other three to hear—Enid had devolved into snickering at the statement before a familiar form in a dark dress stepped up to the table.

 

“We do not use such language here at Cackle’s, Miss Pentangle,” Miss Hardbroom said harshly.  “That is your second warning.”  Circe actually looked a bit angry this time and she turned to her bowl of… soup then with a furrowed brow, as Miss Hardbroom glided away from the table she shared with her new friends. 

 

“Pentangle?” Felicity asked from her seat less than a meter from where Circe was seated.  “As in..?”

 

“Miss Pentangle is my mother, yes,” Circe answered and she could practically see the hearts escape Felicity’s body in admiration of the woman who birthed her.  “Um…”

 

“Don’t worry about her,” Mildred said.  “She’s always like that.  Give her a moment and she’ll start talking your ear off—”

 

“Isn’t Miss Pentangle just amazing?  I mean all of the things she’s done for and with modern magic.  And she’s just so beautiful, and smart, and talented—“

 

“Sorry, I know you mean well um…” Circe said with a half-smile.  “Thank you, for the compliments and everything, Mum has definitely earned it… but well, I’m not her, and maybe later we can talk about it if you want… but it is dinner and I’m a bit hungry so…”  Felicity blushed then.

 

“I’m sorry… yeah, I’ll um… let you get back to eating,” the girl said, deflated.  Circe felt bad for her when Ethel seemed to do something under the table a second time to get Felicity to get back into the conversation—or rather adulation of Ethel—at the other end of the table. 

 

“I didn’t expect such a…”

 

“Fangirl?” Enid asked quickly.

 

“Yeah, I guess,” Circe said with an uneasy smile.  “I mean, we all love Mum at Pentangle’s, she’s amazing really.  But Mum also really gets a lot of blowback from a lot of traditionalists, I don’t ever expect someone outside of Pentangle’s to actually like my mother—or me by extension, really.”

 

“You don’t have to worry about that here, Circe,” Maud said, giving a reassuring smile as she spoke.  “A lot of the girls here really like Miss Pentangle.”

 

“Yeah!” Mildred added.  “The last time she visited, she helped me do some stuff I couldn’t do before, she’s a fantastic teacher.”  Circe felt her blush deepen.  “Now let’s stop talking about Miss Pentangle and eat before they take away the…” Mildred moved her spoon around in the goop Miss Tapioca had seen fit to serve them that evening.  “Um… whatever this is.”  The girls laughed then and went back to their meals.

 

At the head table, Miss Hardbroom sat rigidly in her chair beside Miss Cackle as she watched her daughter interact with the girls.  She was worried, she always worried, but she knew Circe could take care of herself.  When she felt a hand on her left forearm, she nearly jumped out of her chair, but managed to prevent herself from doing so.  “She’s going to be fine, Hecate,” Miss Cackle said softly in her signature calming tone.  “She’s made some good friends in the first few hours of being here… and she’ll be a good influence on the three of them, same as they will for her.”

 

“Of course, Ada, I know that,” Hecate spoke back softly, but the anxiety was still evident in her voice.  “I haven’t checked in on Joy yet today, have you seen how she is settling in?” she asked as her eyes moved over to the younger girl, who was sitting by herself at the end of one of the tables of first years with a book open while she ate from her bowl. 

 

“She’s getting along just fine, Hecate,” Ada said with another smile and a small pat to her arm before she turned back to her own meal.  Hecate nodded more to herself than to the headmistress and turned back to her meal as well.  The unappetizing look of the soup did little to settle the growling hunger of her stomach and she took a few large spoonfuls before her taste buds just couldn’t take it anymore and she pushed it away and opted for a roll of bread hoping the woman hadn’t managed to make that as unappetizing as well.  Perhaps Miss Tapioca was having an off day… she’d try not to fault her too much for that…

 

The few moments of, well silence wasn’t really the word for the noise in the dining hall, but we’ll go with that—the few moments of silence were interrupted by an explosion of green goop on the group of girls around Ethel and the loud screeching sound from the middle Hallow child.  Within a moment, she’d stood up and looked accusingly at the group of four at the other end of the table they shared.  “How dare you?!” she nearly screamed as the four of them continued to laugh—well, Mildred, Enid, and Circe laughed openly while Maud tried to cover hers.  “Do you have any idea how long this will take to get out of my clothes?  My hair?” the girl continued.  Hecate transferred from where she sat at the head table and appeared between where Ethel was standing and where Mildred and the girls were sitting.  “Miss Hardbroom—”

 

“I’m well aware of the situation, Miss Hallow, thank you,” Hecate said quickly to cut off Ethel Hallow’s whining.  “If I were you, I would go and clean that mess off before it sets in,” she quipped, causing Ethel to gape at the potions mistress.

 

“But Miss Hardbroom, Mildre—”

 

“Hmm I don’t remember asking for your input on the situation, Ethel,” she continued.  “If I should need it, I do know where to find you.”  She didn’t wait for another quip from the girl, with a quick movement of her right hand, Ethel Hallow disappeared and reappeared where Hecate had wanted her to—her room.  And then she turned her attention back to the four who’d caused the distraction.  “Now, I had expected you three to be able to go through at least one day before causing any sort of disruption, but seeing as you can’t I guess we will have to start the year off with a deten—”

 

“It was me,” Circe said, standing up quickly.  “I got tired of Ethel’s badmouthing of my friends and her sneering, so I thought I would make her as green on the outside as she is on the inside.”  Mildred, Maud, and Enid watched the familiar look of anger on their form mistress’s face and pitied their new friend.  No doubt Circe would receive more than just a detention for such an outburst.

 

“Well then, I guess you won’t mind losing your maglet for a week as well as detention, now will you?” Hecate said before holding out her hand.

 

“Aw come on!” Circe whined.  “Mum only gives me detention when I do things wrong!”

 

“I am not Pippa, Circe,” Hecate said sternly.  “And you have already given me reason to scold you twice before dinner even started, now hand over your maglet and you will report to Miss Cackle’s office for detention tomorrow after lessons are over.”  Circe stared at her mother for a few long moments before she brought her bag up to the table and slammed it down on the top, tears blurred her vision and she forced them back down.  She pulled her maglet from her bag and tossed it at Hecate before she took her bag and ran from the dining hall.  Hecate felt her heart pull at the sight, but she knew she hadn’t overreacted.  Circe had broken the rules, and she would be punished.  Having her maglet taken away for a week wouldn’t kill the girl, despite what she may be feeling at that moment.

 

The three still seated at the table looked between the doorway their friend had escaped through and then where their teacher was still frozen where she stood, staring at the doorway.  Mildred was the first to move, the other two shortly after.  However before Mildred could follow after Maud and Enid, Miss Hardbroom caught her with a hand on her shoulder.  “Miss Hardbroom?”

 

“Take a roll or two with you, Mildred,” Hecate said softly.  “And make sure she drinks some water when she’s done crying… she gets dehydrated easily.”  The girl nodded with a smile and picked up enough rolls for the four of them—with maybe an extra for Circe considering her mother’s penchant for breaded treats—and raced after Enid and Maud to find their friend.  The rest of the dining hall had stayed silent as they watched on and now Miss Hardbroom was aware of it.  She straightened her already straight spine and cleared her throat.  “Perhaps I should have Miss Tapioca clear dinner if you all are full enough to stare?” she said loudly enough to echo in the hall.  The statement caused enough of a shock for the rest of the girls to continue eating as Hecate moved back to the head table and sat down once more.  Circe at her school for the term was going to be a bit more challenging than she thought it would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know how you feel about it. I love hearing from you guys! I'm not the best with responding to comments and such, but I'm going to try and change that. Even if it's only a <3 in response.
> 
> See you next time!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Characters and affiliated locations and terminology of The Worst Witch do not belong to me. I'm simply taking them on a joyride.
> 
> So here we are at chapter two. Really happy you all enjoyed the first chapter! We join Mildred and company for the resolution to the dinner confrontation and then their first day of class. I'm a bit worried about how I've handled Ethel... but hopefully it's not too horrible or out of character.

This wasn’t a tantrum.  This wasn’t her spewing hatred for her more discipline-oriented mother.  This wasn’t her being a spoiled child having something taken away for the first time, and thinking the world unfair because of it.  This was tears shed in anger, but not hatred—she knew, somewhere in her hormone ravaged brain, that she had done wrong… even if the girl did deserve every bit of the green soup that was on her face, in her hair, and all over her clothes.  No, Circe was not just angry at her mother, she was angry at herself.  Angry that she’d gotten caught, angry that she’d done something that forced her into a detention and punishment—angry that she’d disappointed her mother.

 

And now she was in her room, not expecting her new friends to show up and pound on her door the way they are now, but not entirely surprised they’d followed her either.  She dried her tears, wiping away the saltwater leaking from her eyes as she stood from her bed.  She didn’t bother to look in a mirror to check the way she looked, Circe knew for a fact it wouldn’t be a normal reflection.  She could feel her magic buzzing along her skin, could feel it crackling in her eyes and around her hair.  Honestly, she half expected some kind of unusual facial feature, but maybe she’d get lucky this time and her magic wouldn’t give her a snout or a tail or anything else not seen on a human.

 

The door was locked, a spell she’d learned early on in her school career, she hadn’t wanted company to follow her in without knocking first, so she muttered the quick spell to undo it and then pulled the door open to see Enid at the front poised to continue slamming her hand against the door with Maud beside her and Mildred behind them with one hand each ready to knock.  “Um…” she started.  “You guys… you guys didn’t have to follow me.”  Circe crossed her arms as she stood there, trying to ignore their astonished looks at they took in her appearance.  They were staring at her hair, which meant it had changed.  It was usually the first thing to catch people’s eyes.  Next would be her eyes.  And yep, just like clockwork their eyes moved down from her hair to her face and focused on her eyes, but not actually making eye contact in the traditional sense.  “I’m sorry I ruined your dinner,” Circe tried again to get their actual attention, instead of their gaping astonishment.

 

“Uh…” Mildred turned her focus to Circe instead of just her appearance and then shook her head to clear it and get her thoughts together.  Then she remembered the rolls in her other hand and she held them up.  “I brought food!” she said with a hopeful smile.  “I know you didn’t exactly eat all that much, you’ve got to be hungry…” she trailed off as she watched Circe’s hair change from the metallic shades of black and green to a soft blue and then into a glimmering lavender.  Her eyes turned from their ominous black to a shade of red one might compare to a crayon spread along a coloring book page.  “How… how are you doing that?” Mildred finally asked. 

 

Circe stepped aside to let the three girls in and then shut the door behind them.  “I’m a… um… Mum likes to use the term metamorph, because there just isn’t a name for what I am…” she paused as she walked to her bed and then spun to sit down on the edge.  “Pop says it’s my magic… um… it’s just my magic being a bit too powerful for my body to contain so its found a different outlet,” she explained.  “Apparently I’ve always had this ability, scared Pop half to death when I popped out and grew a tail,” she chuckled.  “I usually have control of it…”

 

“But boy emotions are a hassle, right?” Enid quipped as she moved to sit down right next to Circe and hugged an arm around her.  “It’s alright, we won’t tell anyone,” she comforted.  “Although it is pretty amazing that you can do this stuff.”

 

“Yeah, it’s brilliant,” Maud said with a shy smile.  “I’ve never seen anything like it… haven’t read anything about it either.”

 

“It kind of reminds me of something from Harry Potter,” Mildred chucked in her two cents on the matter.

 

“Harry Potter?” Maud asked with a tilt of her head, an equal statement of confusion found their way onto Enid and Circe’s faces as well.

 

“It’s a book series about… well a magic school,” Mildred explained.  “One of the characters in the later books is a metamorphmagus… she can change her appearance at will usually… sometimes it’s influenced by her moods.”  Mildred looked down at her hands then and remembered the bread rolls.  “Oh!  You need to eat something,” she said and passed a bread roll to each of the girls and then set the extra on the nightstand next to Circe’s bed.  “And!” Mildred reached into her a pocket on her skirt that wasn’t readily visible like one might think and pulled out a water bottle.  “Hydration is important,” she said with a grin as she passed it to Circe. 

 

“Thank you, Mildred,” Circe responded with a smile before she tore at the bread roll and ate the pieces she tore off.  “You said this Harry Potter was a book series?” she asked, before she let her eyes move up to look Mildred in the eyes.  The girl grinned and nodded.  “Do you have the books with you?”  Mildred paused in taking another bite of her bread roll then.

 

“No, but I don’t think it’ll be a problem getting them?” she said.  “I have the set at home, I could have Mum send the first few to see if you like them.  Maybe you lot could take turns reading them if you want?”  Maud and Circe seemed excited at the prospect while Enid seemed indifferent, but Mildred could see a sparkle of what could be excitement in her eyes and then nodded with a grin.  “Alright then, I’ll talk to Mum tomorrow.”  They stayed in Circe’s room for the rest of their free time before another gong-like sound rung through the castle signaling lights out would be soon.  The three were reluctant to leave their new friend after an evening of laughter, but they did and shortly after the door shut, another knock on the door surprised Circe in the middle of her nightly routine.

 

When she opened the door, she looked up into her mother’s eyes.  Anyone who didn’t know Hecate Hardbroom would think she was emotionless and wouldn’t be able to read her, but Circe knew her mother better than anyone.  The expression, although decidedly muted compared to others, on Miss Hardbroom’s face was one of worry and sadness, stress.  It seemed her mother was feeling a bit distressed by the evening’s events, just as Circe had been.  “May I come in?” she asked as she stood there awkwardly in the hallway.  This was new territory for the both of them—Circe had been in a school with a parent, but not this school and not this parent; and Hecate had never had Circe as a student before, in a school, where there were rules for the way they were to interact during school hours and such.  It was going to be an adjustment for the two of them.  Circe nodded and stepped aside so her mother could enter.  When the door shut, Circe walked around to stand between her mother and her bed and waited.  It took a moment, but finally Hecate spoke again.  “I am not sorry for the way I’ve chosen to handle your disciplining,” she started.  “I know you understand why I handled it the way I did, you’re smart enough to know that.”  Circe smiled softly at the statement.  “But I do need you to know that I love you… although I am disappointed in your actions,” she continued.  “And I want to make sure you know… I want to make sure you know this doesn’t mean you can’t come to me when you want to, I am your mother first and teacher second.”

 

“I know, Pop,” Circe responded.  “I’ve calmed down since dinner and I wanted to apologize for the way I’ve acted.  I could have handled the confrontation with Ethel better…” she wanted to add in her after thought of not really wanting to change the way she’d actually handled it, but decided against it.  She needed her mother to know that she was a mature teenager, she knew when she was wrong—even if it pained her to admit it at the moment.  “Now,” Circe started with a smile.  “Are you going to tuck me in?” she asked with a laugh.  Hecate smiled then, a wide smile that reached up to her eyes as she stared lovingly at her daughter.

 

“I could be convinced to do so,” she said.  “If that’s what you want.”  Circe smiled and stepped into her mothers embrace and hugged her tightly.

 

“Maybe not actual tucking, but I will settle for a hug and a kiss goodnight… maybe a sweet dreams if you’re feeling it,” she responded.  Hecate tightened her arms around the girl and laid her head against the top of Circe’s.

 

“I love you,” she said softly before she moved to lay a kiss softly on Circe’s forehead and then she stepped away towards the door.  “Sweet dreams, Circe,” she said just before she opened the door and stepped out letting the door close behind her.  Circe, feeling warm after the affection, smiled and climbed into bed and fell straight to sleep.

 

-~-

 

The girls had begun their morning on a good note, no incidents at breakfast and then they’d all filed down the hallways and into the Chanting classroom where Miss Bat was asleep at her desk.  Circe snickered when the four of them walked into the classroom after Ethel and Felicity had walked through talking about something none of them seemed to care about.  “Ms. Bat?” Circe called as she walked by the teacher’s desk.  Mildred, Maud, and Enid all watched her from their desks.  “Ms. Bat…” she said again before reaching out with her right hand to tap on the older woman’s shoulder.  The woman merely hiccupped in her soft snoring and settled back into sleep.  Circe tilted her head and then turned and shrugged as she walked to an empty desk next to Maud and behind Enid.

 

The girls were all talking about various things with their friends around them; one group in the back were swapping stories about their thirteen birthdays, another pair were talking about summer vacations.  Meanwhile, Ethel was talking very loudly about something she didn’t seem to understand:  Circe.  Felicity was acting as if she were hanging on Ethel’s every word, while the girls that had joined them just as Ethel had started speaking seemed to actually believe the vitriol Ethel was spewing. 

 

“She’s disgusting is what she is,” Ethel spat at something one of the girls had said.  “Can’t stand that I’m her better and so she covered me in soup, I can’t believe she wasn’t expelled for it!”  The girl huffed and crossed her arms as she leaned back against her seat.  “And trying to claim she’s actually a Pentangle?  I bet Miss Pentangle felt sorry for her, probably not even a real witch, so she let her borrow the name.  Noble of Miss Pentangle, to bend so far for such a… person.”  Enid had stopped talking as she heard this, her sentence about her crazy dream the night before left hanging as she turned sharply at the statement.  “And the way Miss Hardbroom spoke to me… it’s all her fault.  Miss Hardbroom knows I’m the best in the class, she never speaks to me like that…” Ethel continued.  “I’ll—”

 

“You’ll what Ethel?” Enid snapped and stood quickly to reach Ethel’s desk.  “Make a fool of yourself so everyone knows how much of a vile witch you really are?”  Ethel looked angry then, and something darkened behind her eyes, almost like she regretted everything she’d just said.  But her pride would refuse to yield in such a matter and she straightened up a moment later and raised her chin in defiance.

 

“I’ll make sure Miss Hardbroom knows how truly horrendous that girl really is,” Ethel proclaimed proudly.  “Shouldn’t be too hard.”  Ethel made sure to give Enid such a look that signaled the end of the conversation, but was flustered when Enid just settled on a satisfied smile.  Ethel didn’t know how to respond to such an expression after she was sure she’d put down the girl’s friend enough to warrant a lashing of anger, so with a huff she settled back in her chair and looked to the front of the classroom, ready for Ms. Bat to start chanting.  Now if only the woman would wake up from her morning nap…

 

A slamming of a book onto a desk jerked the older woman from her sleep and she looked around as the haze of sleep slowly slipped away until she remembered where she was and why she was there.  “Oh!” she exclaimed.  “Good morning girls,” she said with a smile growing on her face.  “Now, let’s start off the term with a classic!”  Ms. Bat stood from her desk and moved to her piano and sat down at the bench.  “Page twelve in your books, girls!” she finally remembered to say before she started to play and the girls all rattled off the words much like they would rather cut out their tongues than chant something so monotonous.  The rest of the class continued much like this—with Ms. Bat nodding off about halfway through a chant that was meant to keep the chanter and those around them awake—and when class ended, the girls all filed out of the room.  Their next lesson was with the newest addition to the faculty, another art teacher that seemed to have less of Miss Hardbroom’s ire directed at her.  And the girls enjoyed themselves.

 

When lunch time rolled around, the four of them moved to the dining hall and sat to eat their meal while chatting about innocuous things.  Circe was talking about the modern version of Ms. Bat’s chanting class and how her mother would sometimes pop in—how her mother was somewhat of a show off when it came to singing magic, to which the girls laughed at remembering how Miss Pentangle had introduced the subject the year before.  “She’s really a great singer though, without all the flash,” Circe said.  “Her lullabies were always the best… especially when Pop joined in.”  She smiled as she turned to the food she’d put on her plate and took a bite out of a sandwich while the others chewed their food as well.  “What about you, Enid?  Were your parents the lullaby singing sort?” 

 

“They were at first,” Enid started.  “There were times when they couldn’t sing to me, their mediwitches would warn them about losing their voices if they sang too much outside rehearsals and shows.”

 

“Oh, I get that I guess,” Circe said thoughtfully.  “Being so reliant on not just their magic, but their voices… it would be a bit damaging to lose something so crucial.”

 

“Dad lost his once,” Enid said with a snicker.  “It was like he was trying to power a hot air balloon with a straw for a while, all that effort to produce a sound barely loud enough to hear.  It was kind of funny to watch, and I should have been sad that he was forced to take a break to let it heal… but I was just happy to have him home.”  The girls all looked at her with soft smiles then.

 

“Wait… so Miss Hardbroom used to sing to you?” Mildred asked then, remembering Circe’s mention of her other mother joining in with Miss Pentangle.  “I never imagined her… singing.”

 

“Every witch learns to chant, Mildred,” Maud said.  “It’s like the same thing.”  Circe snorted and shook her head as she tried to chew quicker and then swallow the food she had in her mouth so she could talk. 

 

“It is vastly different,” Circe said.  “There are groups of students at Miss Pentangle’s that can chant, but they can’t sing.  Singing is more of an art than a necessity, so it’s not trained.  Chanting is like talking and pitching your voice higher or lower as you go, it can bleed into operatic singing, like Esper Vespertillio used to do—I heard you lot got a private performance, lucky,” she explained before she picked up her cup and took a long swallow.  “Mum can sing and chant, but she’s better at singing.  She likes to um… embellish, make it sound less boring to the ear.  Chanting is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but singing is just…”

 

“Singing is a lesser witch’s attempt at doing something they just can’t accomplish when they don’t come from a **proper** witching family,” Ethel cut in as she walked by.  “Perhaps you should have stayed at Miss Pentangle’s if you like lesser magic so much.”  Her words were cutting, and Circe had the urge to stand up and show the girl just how much “lesser” her magic was, but Mildred put a hand on her arm and it seemed to calm her down for the moment. 

 

“I’m guessing you’re rubbish at it then,” Circe managed to snark out, keeping her anger in check.  Or at least she thought she was.  The look on Ethel’s face as she stared at Circe told her otherwise.  Mildred tightened her hand on Circe’s arm to keep her in place, trying to convey that she had nothing to be ashamed of. 

 

“And it seems you’re rubbish at something so simple as control,” Ethel shot right back.  “Miss Cackle shouldn’t have let someone as volatile as you are into this school.  You’re a blight on the Craft.”  Circe could feel her magic swirling with her anger, she could feel her hair changing—and she knew her eyes were when her sight turned from its normal way of working to a more infrared sight.  She wasn’t surprised when Mildred let go of her skin with a hiss and she looked down to see steam coming off of it.

 

“I’m sorry, Mildred,” Circe whispered.  She stood then, before her self-transformation ability could get any more out of control and set the dining hall on fire, and rushed out.  Maud and Enid both glared at Ethel as she stood there with her self-important expression shown proudly on her face.

 

“Ethel you are a… a… harpy of a girl,” Mildred said before she stood and went to follow her friend.  However, she stopped when she walked out of the dining hall and nearly ran into Miss Hardbroom.  “Miss Hardbroom!” she exclaimed in surprise.  Surely the woman wouldn’t be here if she’d seen Circe in such a state. 

 

“Mildred Hubble…” the woman said in her usual way before she sniffed the air.  “Are you attempting to take your potions lab exploding ventures outside the classroom?” she asked as she looked down at the girl with a raised eyebrow.

 

“No, Miss Hardbro—”

 

“Miss Hardbroom, that _girl_ tried to set the dining hall on fire,” Ethel said as she stepped up behind Mildred.  “She’s dangerous, she shouldn’t be allowed here at Cackle’s… she’s bound to ruin everything.”  Mildred wanted to turn around and smack Ethel across the face, but instead she looked up at her form mistress.

 

“I’m aware of your feelings for Miss Hubble, Ethel,” Miss Hardbroom spoke exasperatedly.  “But as she comes from a witching family and has earned her spot as Cackle’s several times over, I do not think anything you say will sway that decision.”

 

“I’m not talking about Mildred Hubble,” Ethel sneered.

 

“Then who—”

 

“Miss Hardbroom,” Mildred spoke softly, knowing the second Miss Hardbroom turned her eyes to her, despite now looking at the floor instead of at the woman. 

 

“What is wrong, Mildred?” she asked.

 

“It’s Circe,” Mildred said as she lifted her head to look up at her friend’s mother.  “She… she was losing control of it, I think she might hurt herself or someone else.”  She lifted her hand up for Miss Hardbroom to see.  “It was an accident, I know it was.  I’m really worried about her.”  Miss Hardbroom took Mildred’s burned hand into both of hers and Mildred was surprised when warm magic flooded her hand and the burned and bubbles receded until the injury was gone. 

 

“Thank you for telling me Mildred, I’ll make sure she’s okay… go back to lunch,” Miss Hardbroom didn’t say anything else, just turned and transferred away.  Mildred rubbed her hand as she stared at where Miss Hardbroom had been before she turned and nearly ran into Ethel.

 

“I can’t believe it… it’s like having another _you_ ,” Ethel sneered.

 

“It’s better than having another you,” Mildred said before she pushed past Ethel and went back to the dining hall, hoping Circe would still be in the school and healthy by the time they saw her next. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know how you feel about it. I love hearing from you guys! I'm not the best with responding to comments and such, but I'm going to try and change that. Even if it's only a <3 in response.
> 
> See you next time!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Characters and affiliated locations and terminology of The Worst Witch do not belong to me. I'm simply taking them on a joyride.
> 
> This took a lot longer than I wanted to get out, but here it is! Hope you enjoy it. <3

Hecate found her daughter in the middle of the potions lab, sitting with her legs crossed on the floor, only moments after she’d transferred away from Mildred and Ethel—she’d deal the middle Hallow child when she made sure her own child was fine.  She could see the evidence of her child’s anger and hurt in the way Circe’s skin gave off steam, the way her hair glowed above the bright red orange color, and the way the tears fell from the sides of her eyes in slow drops rather than the hiccupping sobs Hecate had seen in relation to just sadness.  Hecate briefly wondered if her and Pippa should have put off the school switch until the following year, perhaps give Circe more time to control the elevation in her magic from her thirteenth year, as well as the sudden changes in hormones and emotions, but she didn’t dwell on that thought.  Instead she moved around until she was directly in front of her daughter—she waited for Circe to look up at her before she sat down on the floor, and she held her hands out for Circe to do whatever she was currently comfortable with.

 

“I’m sorry,” Circe said with a sob before Hecate found herself with arms full of teenage witch.  “I didn’t mean to lose control, Pop.”  Hecate squeezed her arms around Circe as her cries got a little bit harder. 

 

“It’s okay, Circe,” Hecate whispered against the slightly hotter than warmer red orange hair on top of her child’s hair.  “I was… worried,” Hecate said quietly, just before Circe pulled back to look up at her.  “Mildred’s hand was burned, Circe,” she answered the question on her daughter’s face.  “She’s fine, I healed it, but I was worried about what that meant for your magic…”  Circe nodded as she sniffled and sat back on the floor instead of in her mother’s lap.

 

“I’m sorry Pop,” Circe managed to say without her tears starting back up in earnest.  “It… it started and then I couldn’t stop it… at least while I was in the dining hall.”

 

“It’s okay, Circe,” Hecate was quick to respond, feeling the want to hug her daughter to her body again, to protect her from the emotions that were running over her face as she spoke, and the thoughts that were probably prevalent in her mind.

 

“No, it’s not,” Circe shot right back, more out of anger at herself than any kind of retaliation at Hecate.  “You always tell everyone, me included, control is crucial.  It’s an important part of being a witch, of having magic,” she sniffled.  “And I lost it… just because Ethel—“

 

“What did Ethel do?” Hecate asked with a titled of her head.  She watched Circe, watched as her hair color dimmed, although still remained red orange, and her skin seemed to give off less steam.  Hecate then remembered exactly Ethel had said to her, something she had dismissed because she’d thought the girl was speaking of Mildred, instead of Circe.  _She’s dangerous, she shouldn’t be here._   Her back snapped straight up and her features hardened in the barely repressed anger she now felt towards the girl she’d once hailed as a savior of the Craft.  “Circe, that girl knows nothing about you,” she said evenly.

 

“She said I shouldn’t have been let in, she said I’m volatile and that I’m a blight on the Craft,” Circe sobbed, her tears now returned as she relived the event in her mind.  “And she’s right!  I could have burned down the school, all because some attention starved girl decided I was an easy target!”  Hecate moved to lean forward, held her arms out to take her child into a hug, but Circe scooted backwards on the floor.  “Please don’t touch me right now,” she snapped, and Hecate let her arms fall slowly back to her sides.  The ringing of a bell signaled the end of the lunch and the sound of footsteps echoed against the stone of the hallway outside.  “I’m fine, Pop… I need to get to class…” Circe stood then and backed away before she turned and headed towards what would be her next class.  Hecate moved to her feet and tried hard to reign in the hurt she felt at the perceived rejection of her child.

 

-~-

 

“You’re alright!” Mildred exclaimed as they walked through the doorway into their spell science class and spotted Circe situated at the back of the classroom staring at a book while her hair still flashed a fiery orange and red when she tilted her head up to look at Mildred, Enid, and Maud.  She smiled and nodded as they rushed closer to her.  “So Miss Hardbroom found you?”

 

“Yeah,” Circe answered.  “Pop’s good at finding wayward students.”  She sniffled and wiped at her eyes before she settled.  “I’m just going to sit back here for class today, I think I need to be alone for a little bit.”  The three looked crestfallen at her voicing her need for a little bit of alone time during class, but they understood and went to their regular seats.  Mildred was the last to move, staying for that extra moment to rest a hand on Circe’s arm before she moved to sit next to Maud. 

 

Not long after all the girls were seated, Mr. Rowan-Webb swept into the room in all his wizard glory with his beard just a bit longer than the term before and his robes just as flamboyantly colored.  “I think today we’ll focus on spell enhancements, shall we?” he said with a large smile on his face, ever the cheerful man.  “What are a few ingredients that help with enhancing spells, eh girls?”  A few hands went up, but Algernon called on the hand he hadn’t expected.  “Mildred?”

 

“Bat drool, sir?” she asked, hoping it was an ingredient he was searching for.  It had been the added ingredient that caused havoc just before their year had gotten the invitations to join a coven.  The girls all collectively seemed to let out a shiver at the memory of the hair spell gone wrong—Circe looked a bit confused at the reaction, but only thought to ask Enid or Maud or Mildred about it later.

 

“Quite right, Tadpole!” Algernon said with a prideful grin on his face.  “And how does Bat Drool enhance a spell, exactly?” he asked to the class, to which he received more raised hands.  This time he watched as his newest student remained staring at the closed book on her desk, it took him a moment to work through his concern for the girl to choose one of the raised hands.  “Hmm… Felicity?”

 

“Bat drool enhances of the strength of the spell and/or potion it is used with,” Felicity responded with a smile.  Beside her, Ethel huffed in annoyance at being passed over twice for answering questions, while Felicity basked in the praise Mr. Rowen-Webb gave her at the clear and correct answer she’d given. 

 

As Mr. Rowen-Webb continued the lesson, Mildred looked over her shoulder at Circe who was still seemingly zoned out at her desk.  She was worried about her new friend—she’d had a few years to get used to Ethel’s jabs at her character, her ability, and her lack of a proper witching family, but Circe was all new to it.  Perhaps she could get Ethel to focus back on her, get Circe out of the line of fire.  As she tried to find a way to help her friend, she felt the familiar jab of an elbow to her ribs from Maud and she turned back around to face the front of the classroom, to see Mr. Rowen-Webb staring at her expectantly.  “I’m sorry, sir, could you repeat that?” she asked with a sheepish smile.

 

“I asked what the best way to harvest bat drool would be, Miss Hubble,” he said with that smile still present on his face.  Mildred took a moment to think before she blurted out the only answer she had.

 

“Wait with a bucket and hope the drool doesn’t hit you?” she said, waiting for the reaction of him and the other girls in the class.  Most of the girls giggled, while Ethel huffed in annoyance again and raised her hand.

 

“Yes, Ethel?” Algernon asked.

 

“The correct way to harvest bat drool would be to collect it while the bat is sleeping with the correct instruments,” she said matter-of-factly.  “These days, there are farms that specialize in collecting bat drool with troughs beneath the sleeping bats.”

 

“So exactly what Mildred said,” Enid quipped, leading to a few snickers from the girls and a glower from Ethel.

 

“Yes, yes, that is correct,” Algernon said with a somewhat dismissive wave of his hand.  “Both of you,” he added at the end.  “Now on to other spell enhancements,” he continued.  The girls, for the most part, listened and took notes and when the time came to create a properly enhanced color changing spell, most of the girls got it right.  Mildred was even on point with the help of Maud, while Enid went about her usual tricks and used a bit too much of the enhancement ingredient and the object that was chosen to change color wound up a vibrantly highlighted rainbow rather than a different subdued brown as the spell had called for.  Circe, who hadn’t seemed to have listened the entire lecture, managed to do the bare minimum—her object, an apple, changed from the regular deep red to a vibrant green.  The praise at a job well done had gone unnoticed and when the class was dismissed, Circe was the last to drift from the room.  Perhaps it was just a bad morning, Algernon decided to let it sort itself out, and if Circe was still out of it later on in the week, he would bring it up with the headmistress. 

 

-~-

 

“I don’t think this was such a good idea, Pippa,” Hecate said softly as she sat in front of the mirror in her bedroom that evening.  The rest of the classes had gone without a hitch, and dinner had been a regularly quiet affair—even by Cackle’s standards.  Circe hadn’t come to her afterwards, and Hecate wasn’t sure if her presence was wanted when she’d made sure the girls had gone to bed when they were expected to. 

 

“What do you mean, Hecate?” Pippa asked as she sat on the other side of the mirror call.  She was already in her nightclothes with a pink housecoat on over what she’d chosen to sleep in that evening.  Her face was as bare of make-up as Hecate knew hers was, but she still looked just as beautiful.

 

“Circe,” Hecate whispered as she looked down at her hands, which were fiddling with each other out of sight of Pippa’s eyes in the mirror.  “She… she lost control today,” she continued.  “She…” Hecate paused as she forced her fingers to stop fiddling and she sat up straighter in her chair.  “She doesn’t believe she deserves to be here, Pippa…”

 

“Why on earth would she think that?” Pippa asked with a look of confusion.

 

“She had a bit of an argument with Ethel Hallow, apparently,” Hecate said softly.  “Miss Hallow believes Circe is a blight on the Craft and shouldn’t have been allowed to attend Cackle’s,” she finished before she looked down at her hands again.  Her knuckles were white with the amount of force she was using to grasp the skirt of her dress—she shouldn’t be feeling this much anger towards a child, but she couldn’t help it.  Her daughter was hurting and the cause was Ethel Hallow’s words. 

 

“Have you spoken to Ethel Hallow?” Pippa asked, causing Hecate to look back up at the woman on the other side of the mirror.  Her jaw was clenched and her expression was tense, letting Hecate know just how much the news was upsetting her. 

 

“I have not,” Hecate answered.  “This is… this is unknown territory for me, Pipsqueak,” she continued barely above a whisper.  “I know what I want to do, as her mother… but as her deputy headmistress and teacher—I know I need to talk to Ethel, but I also need Circe to be able to fight her own battles.”  She was looking down at her hands again when she finished speaking.

 

“Hecate,” Pippa spoke softly and waited until the taller woman was looking at her.  “Comfort Circe… and let Ada know about the development.  And if it happens again, then you need to take some sort of action—talk to Ethel, or give her detention.  Circe can handle herself in a verbal argument, and you know she’ll let you believe all is well, but…”

“Miss Hardbroom!” an insistent voice cut through the wood of her door and caught Hecate’s attention, and the knock sounded loud enough Pippa heard it as well. 

 

“I will let you go, Hecate,” Pippa said with a smile.  “Circe is in good hands at Cackle’s, Hecate.  It was a good decision.”  They both smiled and then Pippa ended the mirror call at her end and Hecate was left with only her reflection, before the knocking and the voice started again.  With a soft sigh, Hecate stood and moved from her vanity to the front room of her rooms at Cackle’s that served as an office, and opened the door just as another set of knocks was set to go off and there stood Ethel Hallow.

 

“Yes, Miss Hallow?” Hecate said with a raised eyebrow at seeing just who had interrupted what little free time she had during the school day. 

 

“Mildred wasn’t in Witch History, Miss Hardbroom,” Ethel said with a haughty expression.  “And neither was the Pentangle girl.”  The way Ethel referenced her daughter and spoke the name made Hecate’s skin crawl and she could feel her magic getting ready to lash out.

 

“This is something Miss Bat should and probably has handled, Ethel,” Hecate managed to say without giving away the amount of anger she held within her at the moment.  “Stop interrupting my day with your ridiculous feud with Mildred Hubble,” she said before she moved to close the door once more, only to have Ethel push her hand out before the door could even get halfway closed.  “Ethel…”

 

“I don’t understand, Miss Hardbroom,” Ethel said with disbelief on her face.  “Mildred has destroyed the school, ruined my test scores, and broken rules… Circe has hurt Mildred and is—is a—“  Hecate stopped Ethel’s speech instantly with a raise of her left hand and a pinch of her index and middle fingers to her thumb as she tried to keep her anger in check.  This couldn’t be the way this girl thought, it was just Ursula Hallow’s stellar mothering at work, Ethel was not at fault and just needed to be educated and treated like any other student.

 

“Mildred’s and Circe’s continued enrollment at Cackle’s Academy is not your concern, Ethel Hallow,” Hecate started, and only raised her eyebrow when Ethel made to continue, but found her voice still stunted.  “Mildred is from a witching family, and she passed the entrance exam to attend Cackle’s for a probationary period and she has since been allowed to stay because she is a witch-in-training—much like you are—but she has also saved the school quite a few times with her insufferable need to be in everyone else’s business,” Hecate fought the extreme urge to roll her eyes then at the absurdity of that situation, and instead continued.  “And Circe Pentangle was allowed into Cackle’s because she passed the transfer entrance exam with a score rivaling Esmeralda Hallow’s, as was expected of her.  Miss Pentangle’s extra abilities mean she has to work harder for control, and as she is in her thirteenth year, it is understandable when the control slips—she has been reprimanded accordingly for her slip in control and Miss Hubble is in perfect health after the incident early today.  Neither student has done anything to warrant expulsion from Cackle’s Academy,” Hecate finished then and lowered her hand, allowing Ethel to speak once more.

 

“But Miss Hardbroom—“

 

“And,” she interrupted once more.  “If I have to intervene in another argument between you and Mildred Hubble, or you and Circe Pentangle, where you are spewing such prejudiced views about someone who had no control over what they were born with, then I will be forced to enact some kind of discipline to try and rectify the situation.”  Ethel was quiet now, and Hecate almost felt sympathy for the girl, but this was something Ethel would need to hear.  “A witch takes responsibility, Miss Hallow,” Hecate said as she looked at Ethel.  “And you have done everything in your power to make sure you do not take responsibility for your prejudice and your actions against your fellow witches.  I had hoped for better from a Hallow,” Hecate finished and then took a step back as she heard her Maglet ping from her desk.  “Good afternoon, Ethel,” she said and then shut the door, effectively ending the conversation.  It took her a moment to release her pent up magic in small spurts that did nothing damaging to the room—instead the books she’d had out re-shelved themselves and other various things like notebooks and writing utensils put themselves away.  By the time she made it to her desk, she had calmed down enough to pick up her Maglet and read the message from Ada, requesting her presence in the Headmistress’s office. 

 

-~-

 

All three of the girls were seated in Mildred’s room after dinner that night and with an hour before lights out for the night.  Circe was on the floor leaning against the bed with a textbook in her lap reading up on the homework Maud said they’d missed out on getting for Witch History; Maud and Mildred were on the bed with Maud helping Mildred with the same homework, and Enid was seated at the window peering out into the night’s sky.  It was quiet for a bit before Enid moved at the window and she looked back at her friends and then a thought crossed her mind.

 

“Why do you call her Pop?” she asked to the mostly quiet room.  This caused Maud and Mildred to look up from the homework spread out on her bed and Circe sat up and turned around to face Enid from where she sat. 

 

“What?” Circe asked as she turned around to sit on her knees so she could see Maud, Mildred, and Enid without much strain on her neck. 

 

“Miss Hardbroom,” Enid said.  “Why do you call her Pop?” she asked again.  Circe smiled at the question and then looked at Mildred and Maud who also seemed interested in the question.

 

“According to Mum,” Circe started.  “Pop was a mess when I was baby and a toddler.  I don’t know the specifics exactly before I was like 2 years old, but Mum said I’d gotten hurt or I was about to get hurt, and Pop transferred in quickly and apparently wasn’t as controlled as she usually is,” she paused.  “You know how some of the professors actually leave an audible echo when they transfer?”  Maud and Enid nodded, and Mildred thought for a moment before she just shrugged.  She hadn’t actually paid that much attention to the sounds when someone transferred in Cackle’s.  “Well according to Mum, Pop’s sound is usually a soft puff of air, kind of—and usually only when she’s transferring quickly without really thinking about it, I guess?  Anyway, she transferred to get to me and made a loud pop,” Circe said before she imitated the sound, it sounded much like a loud piece of popcorn popping.  “And according to Mum, I said ‘Pop!’ and that was the end of it,” Circe said and smiled before she put her book on the bed and then looked at Maud.  “I can’t find this in the book, am I missing it?” she asked as she pointed to a homework question on the notebook she had with the textbook. 

 

“Oh, it’s right here,” Maud flipped a few pages in the textbook that was open between her and Mildred and then turned it to show Circe. 

 

“Sweet, thanks,” Circe said as she read the passage and then wrote the answer down to the question.

 

“Do you think Miss Pentangle and Miss Hardbroom still love each other?” Mildred asked almost immediately after, leading the three girls to turn from their respective tasks to look at her.  Circe tilted her head in question, and Mildred shrugged.  “During the Spelling Bee two years ago, Miss Pentangle said they’d lost touch after school because of a broomstick display…”  Circe seemed to think for a moment, before she nodded.  “But she made it seem like they hadn’t spoken since then.”

 

“I know they were separated for a while after they’d left Amulet’s,” Circe started.  “Both of them went to Witches Training College, but Pop went off for private tutelage after the first term… they don’t really talk about what happened, I guess it’s painful.”  She seemed to be unsure how to continue then and looked down at her hands which were fiddling with her pencil.  “Mum used to tell me this extravagant story about how they met back up and got married, mushy love story stuff,” she smiled wistfully.  “Pop always rolled her eyes when she told me, but I think she loved hearing it too…”

 

“It sounds like they were in that epic kind of love,” Enid said as she moved from the window sill to where everyone was at the bed.  “Why’d they get divorced?”

 

“They told me they didn’t love each other anymore,” Circe said.  “Not like they should, anyway.”  Enid opened her mouth and both Maud and Mildred moved to cover her mouth with their hands, Circe laughed at the sight.  “What?”

 

“Enid was going to suggest a tiny love potion,” Mildred said, to which Enid nodded.  “That… we had a bad experience with a love potion last year, it got kind of out of control.”

 

“How out of control?” Circe asked, genuinely curious about what her friends had gotten up to before she’d started at Cackle’s.

 

“All the teachers were in love with Mr. Rowan-Webb?” Maud said.  “Even Mr. Rowan-Webb…”

 

“All the teachers except Miss Cackle,” Mildred corrected.  Enid took the time then to remove their hands from her mouth.

 

“Well if not a love potion, then something else…?” Enid suggested, and Circe looked to Enid again then.

 

“Like what?” Circe asked.

 

“Little things, get the two of them in the same place together,” Enid started.  “And then, um.”

 

“This sounds like a movie,” Mildred piped up.  “Sort of, The Parent Trap, but there’s only one Circe and there isn’t another person trying to move in and marry Miss Pentangle or Miss Hardbroom.”  The other three girls looked at her for a few moments.  “You guys have seen movies, right?”

 

“Not that one,” Maud answered.  “What happened in the movie?”

 

“Well, they were twins, each one went with a different parent and didn’t know about the other, they met in a summer camp and decided to switch places so they could get to know the other parent,” Mildred explained.  “Then the parents found out and met up to try and switch them back—or was it they met up on accident and found out…” she paused for a moment to think about it before she shook her head.  “Either way, to prevent the switch back, the twins made sure they looked exactly alike and acted like each other so the parents couldn’t tell them apart, and they broke up the dad and his new girlfriend and by the end of it, Dad and Mum were back together and happily ever after.  Oh!  And there was camping involved.  I remember that part because they pushed Meredith’s air mattress into the middle of the lake while she was sleeping, it was funny.”  When she stopped talking she looked at her friends’ faces, which were different stages of confused, before she blushed and shrunk into herself.  “Sorry,” she added softly.  “Mum liked the movie when I was younger.”

 

“Wait so they pushed Meredith into the lake and that made the Mom and Dad get back together?” Circe asked, confused.

 

“Sort of—it was a part of the bigger plan,” Mildred answered.  “Meredith was a horrid woman, but she only showed that side to the twins, so Hallie and Annie did some things that made Meredith act like that in front of their Dad—as well as just make her miserable in general so she would leave… either way that was part of the plan.  The other part was to spend the camping trip making their Mom and Dad realize why they got together in the first place, fall back in love and eventually get together again by the end of the movie.” 

 

“That sounds doable,” Enid piped in.  “We just need to find out why Miss Pentangle and HB got together in the first place.  Make them do the same stuff and fall in love again.  Easy, right?”  The other three girls were uneasy about it, but Mildred nodded eventually and then Circe smiled and nodded as well.

 

Finally Maud shook her head with a smile, before she answered, “Why not?  It’s not like we can make it any worse, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know how you feel about it. I love hearing from you guys! I'm not the best with responding to comments and such, but I'm going to try and change that. Even if it's only a <3 in response.
> 
> See you next time!


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